1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to planter devices and more specifically it relates to an equidistant planting system for accurately placing seeds in a furrow thereby providing increased crop yields.
Research has consistently shown that equidistant placement of plants produces the highest possible yields, quality and uniformity within various types of crops. However, most planter devices do not provide uniform seed placement within the furrow created by an opener. The seeds are placed at unequal distances thereby causing some seeds to be closer to others.
Contributing to this problem is seed movement after release from the planter because of the forward motion of the planter depositing the seed on stationary ground. Because many of the plants are growing closer to one another, their overall growth is stunted because of lack of nutrients, water and sunlight. Hence, there is a need for a planter device tat uniformly places seeds within a furrow for increasing crop yields.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Planter devices have been in use for years. Typically, a planter device includes a storage bin for storage of the seed. Conventional planter devices utilize a singulation system connected to the storage bin, however, a length of tube generally transports the singulated seed to the furrow.
Unfortunately, conventional planter devices do not provide a uniform place of seed within the open furrow. The distance the seed has to travel within the delivery tube is often times greater than 18 inches thereby adding significantly to the inaccuracies between the rows. In addition, the seed often times exits the delivery tube to engage the ground surface at approximately the velocity of the planter device causing a bounce and roll effect. This movement of the seed is undesirable since it contributes to misplacement and uneven placement of the seeds within the open furrow.
Examples of planter devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,841 to Powilleit; U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,093 to Meyer-Bosse; U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,291 to Holmes; U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,607 to Luigi; U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,766 to Deckler; U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,212 to Barry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,634 to Patton; U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,642 to Dooley; U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,028 to Griffiths; U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,826 to Caree which are all illustrative of such prior art.
Powilleit (U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,841) discloses a single grain sowing machine. Powilleit teaches a seed container, a feeding wheel connected to the seed container, and a sowing wheel which rolls on the ground and on the circumference of which there are means which engage the seed grains. In the lower zone of the sowing wheel, the seed grains are pressed into the soil and released.
Meyer-Bosse (U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,093) discloses an apparatus for separating and distributing granular goods. Meyer-Bosse teaches a housing, a bucket wheel rotatable within the housing, and an outer receiving side and an inner side of the bucket wheel.
Holmes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,291) discloses a seed planter, planter assembly and method of pickup up and discharging single seeds. Holmes teaches a seed transport member having a plurality of depressions provide with ramp surfaces sloping downwardly. Air is fed into the deepest portion of the depression and a single seed is trapped in this portion by the low pressure region which forms between the seed and the walls of the depression.
Luigi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,607) discloses an electronically controlled pneumatic seeder. Luigi teaches a plurality of seed distributors controlled by direct current motors that are controlled by an electronic devices as a function of the forward speed of the seeder.
Dooley (U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,642) discloses an improved seed sower unit and an improved seed supply hopper for the head. Dooley teaches a frame having a seed reservoir, an indexing means within the frame, a latch means for securing the hopper in operating position, and a seed drain gate means.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for accurately placing seeds in a furrow thereby providing increased crop yields. Conventional planter devices do not provide accurate placement of seed within the furrow. In addition, conventional planter devices do not allow intermittent placement of seed between adjacent rows for achieving the optimum crop growth conditions.
In these respects, the equidistant planting system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of accurately placing seeds in a furrow thereby providing increased crop yields.